That is how Xavier Prep diving coach Frank Pipitone looks at
it.
“A kid with good character might be better than one with
good diving skills,’’ Pipitone said Monday (July 10) after being notified of
his selection as the Girls Diving Coach of the Year for the 2015-16 school year
by the Arizona Interscholastic Swim and Dive Coaches Association.
Pipitone, who will be coaching his sixth season at Xavier in
the fall (he also coaches the Brophy Prep divers), said the character of the
Xavier goals “is so far above the standard that it makes a coach’s job a lot
easier.’’
The award winner is chosen by the state’s coaches “and it’s
nice to be recognized,’’ Pipitone said.
The best part for Pipitone is watching a meet where his athletes
implement a dive that they have seldom used because they are learning, and then
have them post a decent score.
“Of course, you want to win, but when you see them dive and
come up with their head above the water with a big smile on their face, they
can tell they did a good job and it means they are learning. Those types of
things are why I coach,’’ he said.
A school is allowed to send only four divers to the state
meet. Xavier had four divers (three sophomores and a freshman) finish fourth,
seventh, 17th and 18th. Divers qualify by reaching a
certain provisional point total during the regular season.
“That’s one thing that makes my job more of a challenge is
when you have even more than four girls reach that point total and you can take
only four. But it’s a good problem to have,’’ Pipitone said.
He is looking for more of the same this fall.
“We’ll be competitive,’’ he said.
Official practices are due to begin around the second week
of August.
No comments:
Post a Comment